Ryno

Mini Ventral.... It worked to calm down my SR2

It's made by Outboard Covers Australia, it just gives protection to the engine cover.

...and here he is now at 2 years, on a Ski Platform

Here's my boy Zac at 12 months, on an O'brien ski trainer: null

There's some good equipment to help get you little one enjoying being on the water as early as possible.

0 Ski brands I've owned over the last 10 years (in order)... Connelly, KD, O'brien, Sans Rival

Royal Australian Navy, Seahawk Pilot (Instructor)

I'm using a mini Schnitz wing as a front ventral and a standard size Schnitz rear wing in the usual spot on my SR2 with carbon fin. It has made the ski more stable without loosing any speed or turning ability.

A problem with keeping two hands on the rope through the turn is that it will pull your outside shoulder forward and not allow you to counter rotate correctly through the turn correctly. While using two hands for the odd pass in training can benefit certain parts of your skiing, this assumes that you can already ski properly one handed through the course. I would definitely recommend going to one handed turns as soon as possible.

I also use Green Superfeet under the liner

I am a big fan of the blue carbon and understated looks of my Sans Rival... But I love the carbon design of the Obrien Quattro

@swc5150 Not odd at all.... With sports like: wakeboarding, surfing, skateboarding, snowboarding etc, the board is turned/controlled predominately by the back foot. With slalom skiing it's the opposite - why would you want your best leg in a kicker with almost no lateral support?

I'm also very happy with the Z-Box install on my boat (Flightcraft 18XL with 200hp Mercury outboard). My boat is never going to feel like a Zero off boat, but the Z-box gives me accurate times, so that's all I care about. The Stargazer display/interface seems counter-intuitive at times. Pressing the menu button to scroll between modes (rather than using the up and down arrow) etc. I find it always takes a bit of training for new drivers to use it. I'd like to see that changed to something that makes more sense, but I guess if they changed that, we'd all have to retrain ourselves in how to use it. Setting up the engine response in Trick (or wakeboard setting) can be a bit of a pain. For me it would have made more sense to have two adjustable parameters for this setting. Response (how far off the speed it applies an engine correction) and Amount (amount of throttle it uses for that correction. This is obviously going to be variable due to boat speed and the power delivery of the engine. So you could have a table adjusting those parameters for every 5 kph or so.

@aswinter05 I've skied on a Triumph and after skiing on a Senate today, it is night and day better than the Triumph. I haven't skied on a Senate-C, but in my opinion you would be very happy even with the regular Senate. The regular Senate seemed to generate speed well, so I'm not sure you'd need the extra carbon (in the Senate-C) as the extra speed may sacrifice some forgiveness/predictability.

My regular stick is a 66" Sans Rival SR2, but I friend of mine has just purchased a 2012 Radar Senate 67" (due to the current closeout pricing). I had a set on the Senate this morning and wow I was impressed. The ski did ride higher in the water than my SR2, but it didn't lose much feel/security in the turns as a result. It maintained speed really well, and although it isn't as fast as my SR2, generating the speed is almost effortless. The turning was a nice surprise... I usually don't like skiing on skis larger than 66" (I'm 70kg) due to the increased turn radius and decreased response of the ski, but the edge change was smooth and the turning tight and predictable. This ski does some things better than my old Sixam SS, so I'm amazed of the performance vs the price. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't replace my SR2 with this (for course skiing), but I'm tempted to buy one for open water skiing, to get my flow on!

Wow, What happened to Brooks Wilson? I didn't think most pros would ever use the 18m

@MattP it is strange that the world time zone doesn't start in the US and work backwards from there, after all, you yanks are the centre of the universe. We also use the archaic metric system down here, though hopefully we'll "catch up" to you one day! ; )

@thager I like what you're doing there. I also wasn't happy with the Strada release... I had my rear foot come out and my front foot only come half out on a couple of falls, and this tweaked my ankle. I've switched the front boot to an E-series and am much happier with the setup. But if you can come up with a similar setup for a cheaper price point, I'm all ears!

Sans Rival

I'm exactly the same as @Horton, right for everything and left eye dominant - so shoot a rifle left handed... That's a worry - maybe I need to start growing my hair!

There's plenty of options in you want a smaller engine that will still deliver the power. Just get a modern alloy V6 and turbo charge it! You wouldn't necessarily have to pay the premium for the yamaha or mercury engines you have outlined above, as you could use a modern car engine with a closed cooling system. At the end of the day boat manufacturers are using big block V8's because they're cheap, simple and deliver the power. There's no question you can make a slalom boat better by stripping as much weight out of it as possible (engine included) but there's not going to be much of a market for a boat that costs just as much, but with less creature comforts.

I'm also running the latest revision 8.0.2. I think the software upgrade was around $50, but $30 was refunded after I returned the software upgrade chip.

Imagine the 'cool' factor if you were still skiing behind that these days!

Any boat you buy will be a compromise in one area or another. I recommend a Malibu Flightcraft outboard... Pros: * Faster than an inboard (100kph top speed is fairly normal) * Quieter than most inboards (if the right outboard is on the back) * No pesky engine in the middle of the cockpit * It will ride through chop better than most inboards (due to being able to adjust the trim) * Boat is lighter (easier to tow etc) Negatives: * Lack of a full ski platform on the back * Bow rider not an option for the Flightcraft (though there are other outboard ski boats you could go for if this is a requirement) But I'm biased as I have an older Flightcraft 18XL Outboard and love it!

Hey Phil, Don't be afraid to open water ski... It's often better to get your fundamentals and fitness sorted first, then you won't be so far off when you tackle the course. Remember I have a course down here, if you feel like a trip to the South Coast!